Chocky's Dawn
by Chaoseternus
Note that italics indicates telepathy.
Three
"Thompson, get your arse into my office, immediately!"
You know its going to be a fun' day when you get into your office, don't even have time to make a cuppa and you get a phone call like that from your immediate superior.
Considering I wasn't involved in anything major at the moment, it could only mean one thing. Those blasted kids had upped the ante on us.
"Somebody broke into the personnel mainframe last night," Winters growled as I walked into his office, "and they showed great interest in one file in particular"
"Let me guess," I replied dryly," it wasn't yours"
"Smart-arse," he growled, his voice slightly distorted by the unlit cigar drooping from his mouth, "unfortunately for them, Thompson is common enough that they had to search the archives and that gave the computer boys time to kick em out. Something about resetting the connection I don't know, computers aren't exactly my thing but everyone who was connected lost their connection to the database"
"Did they get a trace?"
"Partial," Winters replied, "and its suggestive of our friends, but not diagnostic"
"Well, I haven't heard anything especial from Murielle yet" I shrugged, "except a note about this being a surprisingly challenging assignment"
Winters snorted, "from her, that's saying something"
"So, what are we doing now?"
"For the moment," Winters frowned, "your file has been locked out of the search function and moved in the system. If they get in again, they wont be able to search for it and they wont be able to go right too it. Unfortunately, this is a definite intrusion attempt and security is now trying to get involved and they don't like the ongoing investigation' business, especially when its tied into family issues. They have threatened to sic Internal Affairs onto me for misuse of official resources and interfering with their investigation"
"We had better be right then," I replied, "or else that misuse of resources will stick"
We cant get at his file, Albertine grumbled, they spotted us pretty fast for one and it appears that the file may no longer be on the computer
Albertine, there is this word called subtlety' you may be interested in, just because you can brute force your way in doesn't mean you should, Mathew shook his head, paintbrush dangling in his hand, slowly dripping red onto the floor as he concentrated on his friend, there is also this thing called the law. You broke it again, only this time you cannot claim you were in the right, you could be in serious trouble now
Not with that notice inserted into our files, the military cant touch us
Mathew snorted, disgusted, No, it just means they have to cross every T and dot every I but they can touch you and they can certainly have you arrested if they can prove an illegal action. If you try to claim a paranoia due to previous incidents' defence you will get laughed out of court, just as those rogues were
They at least are still in Prison
Albertine, get out and watch the news occasionally, there was an accident', Mathew poured the irony onto that last word, it even appeared in newspapers this side of the pond, half of them are dead
Albertine was silent, and Mathew continued, hoping the silence was an indication that he was finally getting through to her, god knows he and her father had been trying for months.
Albertine, you're a friend, so take this as friendly advice. Get out, have a night on the time, associate with the rest of humanity for a while, hell, even get some, your old enough now
Mathew shook his head exasperated as Albertine's mental voice came back puzzled, get some?
This is what I am talking about, Mathew shook his head, You're so disconnected from everyone that Chocky hasn't chosen you don't even know what that means. Your father has given you the birds and the bee's speech right?
I'll take the sudden blush I feel coming from you and the lack of response as a yes, Mathew commented, even so, you girl need to get out. If you have to be paranoid, make sure everyone knows where you are going, but get out!
Albertine didn't reply.
It didn't take a genius to know what that look on her fathers face meant as she said she was going out, planning to spend the night at a club. Had she really been that oblivious that she hadn't noticed the gentle prodding her father and her friends were sending her?
Well, maybe, she did tend to get locked up in her work. Of course, it had to be Mathew who decided gentle prodding wasn't working, but other then her father and Chocky, he had known her the longest, he had to know how hard headed she could be at times, not that she would ever admit to being hard headed to anyone of course.
Still, this was new for her, she wasn't used to going out, being on her own, she didn't know what to do. She would have to find a suitable club, and observe, maybe join in once she knew what she was supposed to do.
"Damnit" she cursed, muttering under her breath, right now any Policeman would take one look at Albertine and be determined to keep an eye on her for the rest of the night.
Why Albertine had to choose tonight of all nights to finally get the point of her fathers prodding she didn't know, but damnit, she should have had sense enough to go out as part of a group. Right now, she just screamed unsure, new, and vulnerable and that, in this part of town wasn't a good thing.
She would have to do something about it.
"Hi," Albertine glanced up surprised as the tall, bubbly figure bounced up and down next to her seat, when had she appeared? "I'm Murielle, and you just have to be new here, right?"
Albertine nodded, wondering what she was doing wrong that labelled her out as new.
"Well, come with me and I will show you the best clubs, pubs and where you can have some fun without having to worry"
Albertine frowned, mentally reaching out her senses, there was no threat she could sense, but then, that wasn't one of her skills, as had been shown on more then one occasion. Well, she could always call for help if this Murielle wasn't on the level, she would have a hard time blocking telepathy of course.
"Excellent," Murielle bounced again, annoying bubbly but she needed to play the role here, this girl needed help and protection tonight, "come on, I know this club a few blocks away that's good if your nervous, relatively quiet and the bouncers don't tolerate any trouble, more of them then most places too"
And, Murielle added privately to herself, it will get you out of here. You really need to get out more girl; most would have taken one look at the people in this place and have walked straight out.
For that matter, she added as they walked out the door, since when did the Blue Oyster buy a club in London?
Albertine laughed; more then a little buzzed, this was fun!
Despite the closeness, she supposed the word was, for the feeling of being watched, this was fun. Wasn't her normal bag of fun, but maybe her father and Mathew were right, maybe she needed to expand her horizons a little.
Pity Murielle had called limit on her, those beers tasted nice, but she supposed they were alcoholic and Murielle certainly seemed to know what she was doing, she would know what was safe. Though she would love to know where Murielle lived, she was certainly on the street often enough
Albertine chilled, all alcohol washed from her system in a blaze of adrenaline, she was always on the street, in the background, had been ever since the feeling of being watched first arrived and now she was sitting across from her, and that feeling of being watched was so much closer
"What's up Albertine?"
"Why " Albertine gulped, nervously, fearfully, "have you been watching us?"
Murielle mentally cursed herself, she had blown the mission just to keep a young woman safe, god was Winters going to kill her, it was his kid she was supposed to be looking out for.
"What do you mean?"
She could try and bluff it out she supposed, but she rather suspected it wouldn't work. Albertine would certainly never look at her quite the same of course.
"You know exactly what I mean, Murielle, if that is even your name"
"Well," I shrugged, "it's the only one I ever drop, and you have only yourself to blame for this mess"
"Really? I invited the Navy to spy on me and my friends did I?"
"Yes," I simply stated, sipping from my cider, "when you acted so abnormally in front of Thompson. He was only there to drop his boss's kid off but you acted so odd he had to order an investigation, he wasn't going to just leave Thomas in an apparent lunatic asylum, he needed to know he was doing what was best for the kid, as does his father"
Ah, she's listening, good.
"Father did comment on our behaviour," Point to me, Murielle allowed, "but we have had bad experiences with the military before, did he really expect us to act normally when the military showed up?"
"He didn't know, not then I pointed out."
Right, Okay, so she didn't quite believe that, "don't take this the wrong way, but how the hell do we get rid of you? And why the hell are you here tonight?"
I chuckled, "Do you have any idea how out of place you looked in the Blue Oyster? You had to be the only female in the place, till I decided it was best to go in and get you out"
Albertine blushed suddenly, ducking her head. Yep, she finally got the point.
"Trust me on this," I added, "you even had a cop following you for a while, you were giving all the worst kinds of signals out, unsure, vulnerable I wasn't going to leave you on your own, not with some of the creeps that always hang around places like this"
"You're a nice person," I raised a sardonic eyebrow as Albertine spoke, "how can a nice person be in the military?"
"Okay," I growled, "that I will take offence at. You've met up with a few bad eggs, big deal, every organisation has a few, doesn't matter if it's the military, the police, or a bloody business. Don't let that experience dictate your opinions of the rest of us. Most of us joined because we wished to serve our country, protect the rights everyone of us cherishes, we didn't join to stick pitchforks in babies!"
"I didn't... I meant..."
"I know exactly what you meant, you meant because of one incident, you labelled us as all being the same, all being scum. We're not, and I frankly do not like the implication, most of us, like the rest of society, are pretty decent. But, its always the idiots that get recognised, always the idiots that get seen and ruin it for the rest of us"
"I'm sorry, I'm sorry"
"Do you know Winters is likely to be arrested because of you?"
"What?"
"Oh yes," I replied, a little angrily, "misuse of resources, all because you decided to act like prats and Winters decided he had to look after his son, investigate the apparent lunatics who just happened to have government funding, lots of dangerous equipment and materials and happen to be kids"
Albertine shook her head, denial.
"Every action has a reaction, every decision has a consequence I said," shaking my head, "come on, I'd best get you home"